Global oil prices dipped slightly on Monday as economic reports revealed Chinese retail sales dropped 11% year-on-year in the month of April following the nation’s decision to extend the COVID-19 lockdown to about 46 cities.
Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil is priced, dropped to $108.96 per barrel on Monday before rebounding to $112.66 after reports showed Saudi Arabia’s crude oil export declined to 7.235 million barrels per day (mbpd) in the month of March. This represents a decline of 1% from 7.307 million bpd reported in February.
Also, crude oil prices were supported by reports that European Union could reach a deal to impose additional sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. According to European Union diplomats and officials, the new sanctions will target Russian crude oil.
However, at Investors King we are expecting the drop in Russia’s crude oil supply to be balanced out by the expected drop in Chinese crude oil imports due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Therefore, will expect oil prices to remain around the current level in the near term.
“With a planned ban by the EU on Russian oil and slow increase in OPEC output, oil prices are expected to stay close to the current levels near $110 a barrel,” said Naohiro Niimura, a partner at Market Risk Advisory.
It is important to note that despite Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports dropping by 1%, crude oil production jumped to its highest level in about 24 months at 10.300 million bpd, up from 10.225 million bpd produced in the previous month.
Meanwhile, concerns over falling oil inventories in the United States bolstered gasoline futures to an all-time high on Monday.
“Oil prices will remain bullish, especially WTI’s near-term contract, as U.S. gasoline prices continued to rise amid weaker imports of petroleum products from Europe,” said Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Fujitomi Securities.